1. Field
Embodiments relate to a secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a secondary battery denotes a battery that may be charged and discharged, as opposed to a primary battery, which is incapable of being charged. Small secondary batteries are widely used in advanced electronic equipment, e.g., portable phones, notebook computers and camcorders. Large secondary batteries are widely used for, e.g., driving the motors of electric cars and the motors of hybrid cars. Particularly, when a secondary battery is used in an electric car, since a battery cell has the limitations of capacity, many battery cells are connected in series and parallel and are bundled up as one, thereby forming the secondary battery.
However, since battery cells configuring one secondary battery have slight different characteristics, they cannot provide the same output in spite of the same charge/discharge condition. Accordingly, much research is being made for increasing the life of each of the battery cells by balancing the battery cells.